Busting The Top 5 Protein Myths Surrounding Endurance Athletes

It's time for more protein videos, and for you to finally show you my wiener, from Omaha Steaks that is. Absolutely delicious wieners. Good morning carnivorous, cyclists, and red meat eating runners and other endurance friends. Matt Mosman, Chief Endurance Officer over at EndurElite, the maker of premium supplements for endurance athletes and endurance training and supplement expert.

So, since my last protein video, I have gotten a plethora of questions on everything protein related. So, I'm gonna do a two-part protein video series discussing two things. The first one will be busting protein myths and the second one will be talking about protein quality. So, today we're gonna talk about the five most popular protein myths and we're gonna debunk them. Now, I'm gonna apologize ahead of time, you're probably gonna see my temper increase gradually over the course of this video because there's really only two things in this world that make me about as mad as a wild barn cat.

One is the word "moist," "panties," and "fussy," and the second thing that really makes me mad is pseudoscience BS nutrition supplement and exercise training myths. So, again, if I get really angry throughout this video, I'm gonna apologize ahead of time. So, let's just jump right into it and bust some protein myths.

Protein Myth #1: Too Much Protein Will Cause Kidney Damage

So, probably the most common protein myth is that eating too much protein is going to cause major kidney damage.

Now, I'm gonna say this this one time, there is not one shred of scientific evidence published in the last 100 years that shows excessive protein consumption causes kidney problems. Now, where this myth came from was one case study, meaning it looked at one person that showed consuming high amounts of protein hurt the kidneys. But, here's the caveat. In this study, the person being examined already had preexisting kidney issues, so the amount of protein had absolutely nothing to do with the kidney problems.

But that is one good point to make, if you do have a preexisting kidney issue, you know, too much protein could be bad for you, but for the majority of the population it's not gonna happen. In fact, there was a study done about two years ago done by a guy named Jose Antonio, and what he did is he had his subjects consume six times the recommended amount of protein on a daily basis. And they tested blood and all sorts of cool stuff afterwards and it showed basically no negative effect on kidney function when they were eating six times the recommended amount of protein on a daily basis. So, that's protein myth number one busted.

Protein Myth #2: Too Much Protein Can Cause Bone Loss

I don't think so, and actually it's quite the opposite, too little protein can actually cause bone loss. There was a study in 2003 that showed that, that showed people with chronic low protein consumption had a higher risk of lower bone density and mineral loss. And, in fact, you know, adequate protein consumption can increase calcium absorption by the bone. So, protein myth number two busted.

Protein Myth #3: Protein Powder Is A Steroid

Protein myth number three, here we go, protein powder is a steroid and it can make you get big and bulky and huge. Oh God, help me. So, first of all protein is not a steroid, it is protein, it's protein powder, it comes from milk. It is not a steroid. And as an endurance athlete, you know, taking in too much protein or eating enough protein is not gonna make you big and bulky. It's almost physically impossible as an endurance athlete unless you're eating a ton of calories and you're hitting the weights hard and things like that. Otherwise, there's absolutely no way you're gonna get big and bulky.

Protein Myth #4: Protein Powder Is Not Real Food

Okay, on to number four, protein powder is not a real food. Excuse me for one second. Okay, do you wanna know where protein powder comes from? Protein powder comes from Bessy out of the pasture who's lactating and giving us milk. And that milk is put through filters and then basically dried out, and that creates the protein powder. So, protein powder is real food, it comes from milk.

All right, so let's get to the last protein myth and this is protein should be consumed within the first 30 minutes after ending endurance exercise. Now, I have no problem with this, I mean the theory goes if you're not getting protein within that first 30 minutes then that's gonna hamper your recovery. But that is absolutely not true. I mean, again I don't have a problem if you're doing 'em within 30 minutes of after exercise, but it is absolutely not essential. What's more important is that you're getting enough protein throughout the day. So you're looking at, you know, anywhere from 20 to 30 grams of protein at each meal, and then the same for snacks throughout the day.

So, again the whole anabolic window recovery theory, you know, used to be heavily relied on and they were saying, you know, it's the only way to recover after workout, but that is not true. It's more about the amount of protein you get throughout the day. So, there are your five protein myths busted.

How Much Protein Should Endurance Athletes Eat?

Now, real quick, as an endurance athlete, and we covered this in the last video, you want to ensure you're getting enough protein on a daily basis, specifically 0.45 to 0.72 grams per pound body weight. And now this will ensure proper muscle repair and recovery, and then the BCAA is derived from protein consumption can actually help with energy production during endurance exercise and also help blunt fatigue.

Now, while EndurElite doesn't have a protein yet, I do sell a really kick-ass pre-workout and sports drink coming down the line. But in good time we will have a good protein powder coming out. In the next video, I'll give you one of my top recommendations for a quality protein powder to get you by until we do release our own protein powder.

So that's about it for protein today. If you like this video and you want other endurance related content, go to www.endurelite.com where we have a plethora of really good content on everything endurance related as far as training, nutrition and supplementation. We just started a new YouTube channel, EndurElite YouTube channel, definitely check it out and subscribe to stay on top of these videos. So, let's just wrap it up for today, my endurance friends. Until next time, stay fueled, stay focused, and stay fast.